


As The Snow Falls

by Girls_Are_Just_So_Pretty



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Dorks, Dorks in Love, F/F, Fluff, Romance, slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-01-15 02:10:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21245789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girls_Are_Just_So_Pretty/pseuds/Girls_Are_Just_So_Pretty
Summary: The start of December is special. It's the beginning of the end for many things, but it might just be the start of something new for two girls who have been stuck inbetween everything and nothing.





	1. Not Bad at All

Byul unlocked the door to the apartment and walked in, dropping her coat and shoes off by the door. Continuing on into the darkened room, she noted the takeout containers still laying on the table in the living room, exactly where they had been left the previous night. She made a mental note to grab the chopstick from its place at the foot of the table leg when she found the energy to clean up. 

Making her way through the small apartment, Byul carefully opened the bedroom door and eased her way into the room, almost forgetting in her exhausted state about the squeaky third board. After doing an impressive unplanned dance that almost resulted in her falling on her face, she avoided the demon plank and resumed her mission. 

Walking slowly and carefully to the form she could just barely make out in the bed, Byul oh-so-carefully maneuvered her way under the covers, doing everything in her power to not disturb the sleeping form already residing there. She knew she failed when tired eyes blinked over at her.

"Byul-ah." Ah. 

"Hey Yongsun." Even in the dark Byul could make out the other girls sleepy pout. 

"What time is it?" 

Byul thought about grabbing her phone to check, but decided she didn't care enough to move. "Just after three I think."

"Yah, I thought I told you to finish up quickly." Yongsun took a moment to yawn before continuing in a murmur, "Can't believe you made me sleep alone with how cold it's gotten lately." 

Even as she complained she snuggled into Byul's warmth, beginning her short trek back to dreamland. Byul smiled softly and wrapped her arm around the girl, readjusting the blanket where it had slipped in the shuffle.

Before she had even settled back into the bed she could feel the deep, even breathing against her chest that signalled that the older girl had once again fallen asleep. She savored the warmth emanating from the girl as much as she could. Without even realizing she had closed her eyes, an alarm was blaring in her ears. 

It took her a moment to realize that no, it was not in fact coming from her phone as she originally thought, but from the device lying on the other side of the bed. Somehow Yongsun hadn't woken up from the absolute torture that was interrupting her much needed rest. Byul almost resented her for that. Almost. 

"Aish, Yongsun!" Byul complained to the still unconscious girl who had somehow become even more entangled with her in the few hours of sleep they had managed to steal. Pulling her pillow over her head in a desperate bid to fight off the knives that were being driven into her ears, she smacked her bedmate in the face with the fluffy cushion before it reached its destination.

Jolting awake with a start, Yongsun slapped Byul in the stomach in retaliation before disentangling herself and reaching around for the device. Byul groaned as Yongsun finally found her phone and deactivated it's alarm. 

Immediately, Byul collapsed back onto the bed with her arms splayed out around her. The pillow chose to retain it's spot atop her head. 

"What time is it?" She mumbled into the mattress, barely audible. The beds other occupant rolled back over and settled half on top of Byul, intent on saving what warmth she could. 

"Too damn early," she said, still half asleep. "I forgot to adjust the alarm for the schedule change." 

Byul let out a soft grumble of acknowledgement. Just as Byul was drifting back off into her dreamless slumber, she was assaulted by a loud yell, accompanied not seconds later with a large weight crashing down on her. 

Byul screamed and thrashed in her panic-ridden state until she heard a familiar laugh cutting through her instinct to fight. Her sleep deprived brain finally caught up to the situation and she slumped back down into the mattress with a loud groan of unmasked misery. Of course. 

Byul finally looked up to see Hyejin and Wheein staring down at her with shit-eating grins on their faces. In the panic, Yongsun had evidently fallen off the other side of the bed and was currently seated on the ground, giving her best death glare to the two youngest members. 

"Why. Are. You. Here," Yongsun grit out while trying to get her hair out of her face. Wheein leaned over the bed and put her face close to Yongsuns. 

"Because it's the first of December, which means it's finally time," Wheein said with the utmost seriousness. 

Yongsun looked unimpressed.

"Oh come on, unnie. Don't be like that. You know we have a tradition for these things," Wheein pouted. 

Oh. Byul had forgotten what day it was. 

Silently regretting every decision she'd ever made, Byul sighed deeply and smacked Hyejin to get her to move. 

"Whoo! You know you love us, unnies!" Hyejin smirked and rolled off of her victim. Byul rolled her eyes, 

"How did you two even get in here?" Wheein finally took her eyes off of Yongsun and directed a sly smile towards Byul, who sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eye. 

"We stole your key the other week and had a copy made. Besides, isn't it a bit rude to keep your best friends locked out?" 

Byul was too tired for this. She looked over at Yongsun and met her eyes. Without a word they both grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked their respective attackers. 

Oh, Byul thought. So this is how the rest of the year is going to play out. 

Even as she was hit upside the head with a particularly strong swing from Yongsun, she couldn't bring herself to be upset. 

"Unnie! We were supposed to be on the same side!"


	2. Morning Wonderland

When the fight had finally settled, the girls laid in heaps strewn about the room, much like the various pillows and blankets used as ammunition. It was another moment before the suggestion to grab some breakfast was made. 

Byul lifted herself from the ground and threw the pillow still gripped in her hand back onto the bed. She wasn't looking forward to making that later. Seeing Yong still laying on her back a few feet away, Byul squatted down by her and poked her in the center of her forehead. Yongsuns eyes twitched, but refused to open. 

"Oi, you still alive grandma?" 

Yongsun huffed and opened one eye to glare at Byul, "You're only a year younger than me, you know." 

"Yeah, yeah. Now c'mon, we have to find something that the monsters will eat." From across the room, an indignant Hyejin raised her eyebrow in silent protest. 

Wheein groaned loudly and got to her feet, only to immediately collapse dramatically back onto Hyejin after a few steps. Shaking her head at their antics, Byul turned her attention back to Yongsun. Standing from her crouched position, she held a hand out for Yong. She only stared at it. 

"What, are my hands not good enough for you?" A snort was heard from across the room. Yongsun rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, still lying on her back.

"Okay then, have it your way." Byul grinned and quickly scooped Yongsun up into her arms before she could protest. Byul laughed at the way she squealed at the sudden movement. Readjusting her grip, Yongsun wrapped her arms around Byul's neck and glared at her before burying her head into her chest. 

"Have fun, unnies! Make sure not to leave any marks during the honeymoon!" 

"Your makeup artists would kill you!" Was heard from the room as Byul made her way to the kitchen. 

"Aish, be quiet you two! You do the same damn things," Yongsun grumpily retorted over Byul's shoulder. 

Laughter was their only response. Finally reaching her destination, Byul set Yongsun down on the counter and brushed back a bit of hair that had fallen in her face. 

"Hi," Byul breathed with a ghost of a smirk. Yongsun was not impressed. "Alright, alright, have it your way," Byul joked and put some distance between her and the counter. 

"So, what's on the menu for today? Byul walked over to the fridge and peered in. 

"Why not do some omelets? We haven't really gotten to sit down and have a proper breakfast in a while because of how busy we've been with the comeback, so it might be a nice way to start out the end of the year." Byul nodded. 

"Why don't you start on the rice and I'll get to work slicing up the vegetables." It didn't take Yong long to get the rice cooking, and she moved onto frying up some tofu while Byul began work on the eggs. 

The others, smelling the food in the other room, finally dragged themselves over to the kitchen and asked if they could do anything to help. Yongsun asked one of the girls to grab the kimchi and hand it to her to mix in with the tofu, and then immediately regretted it when Byul started in on her greasiness. 

"What, am I not hot enough for you?" Byul said, trying and failing to suppress a grin. 

Yongsun smacked her on the arm, "Aish, keep your perverted self over there!" Byul beamed at her before returning to the eggs she was making. 

"God, you two are gross. I would say get a room, but you seem to have that covered already," Hyejin smirked from her place on the couch. 

Yongsun opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by Wheein, "Don't even try to deny it unnie. We've caught you two in the same bed four times in the last month alone." 

"Sleeping! We were sleeping! We were cuddling. That's all. I don't know how many times I have to say it before it gets through your thick skulls!" Yongsun had abandoned her place with the tofu to walk over and rap her knuckles on both of the younger girl's heads. 

"Come on, the least you could do is clear some space on the table," Yongsun grumbled. The girls sighed deeply in unison and slumped down into their seats dramatically. 

"But unnieeee! That's not even our mess!" Byul, chuckling over the antics of her group mates, finished the last of the omelets and took over for Yong while she argued. 

Yongsun was generally a very affectionate person, and even though their friendship may have started out roughly, Byul wouldn't trade it for the world. Of course, she was still close to the younger girls, she would absolutely do anything to protect them and keep them safe and happy, but there was something about her bond with Yongsun that went deeper than than that. The natural flow of their relationship and how open she was with her affection towards Byul made it easy for her to call Yongsun her best friend. 

Byul realized she was getting too deep into her thoughts when the tofu started sizzling a bit too much, and returned to her cooking. She plated the tofu and called Yongsun back over to check on the rice while she grabbed water for everyone. 

Wheein threw her arms up in joy as the food was brought to the table and served. "Whoo! Sustenance! Now to see if it's edible," Wheein joked while she picked up her chopsticks. Yongsun threw her hands up in exasperation. 

"Oh give me a break, does respect mean nothing to you two?" 

Hyejin laughed, "Of course it does, but unnie, you're wearing a baby pink sleep shirt with a baby racoon in pyjamas on it, what do you expect?" 

Yongsun stared at Hyejin for a moment before looking down at her shirt. After a long moment, she said in a low voice, "Dammit. So this is all your fault." 

Byul choked on the bite of rice she had just taken. Wheein absolutely lost it and fell over on the couch holding her stomach, while a laughing Hyejin patted Byul on the back in a misplaced attempt to help. Yongsun was still staring murderously at the shirt. 

It was already a long day, and they hadn't even finished breakfast yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Confidence

Byul was once again on the verge of sleep when Hyejin flopped onto the empty couch next to her and laid her head on Byul's lap. The older girl started a bit and half-heartedly glared down at the girl's cheeky smile.

"Isn't it a bit too early to be acting so cocky?" Byul asked. 

"It's always time to be cocky, unnie. Confidence is sexy!" From the other side of the room the two heard a "She's right, unnie!" Byul looked over at Wheein cleaning up the dishes.

"Confidence may be sexy, but there's a fine line between being confident and being cocky. Cockiness comes from having way too much undeserved faith in one's self; Confidence on the other hand, Confidence is when you're good and you know it." 

Wheein threw a sponge at her. It missed terribly. 

"Hey! Watch it!" Byul raised herself as much as she could with a person in her lap to properly turn and glare at the girl. "Yongsun will have my head if you two ruin her couch."

"Psht, that's what you get for trying to act all cool." 

An indignant sputtering had risen from the form inhabiting her lap. "And what exactly did I do? Breathe wrong?" 

Byul glanced down for half a second before responding with a quick, "Yes," and turning her attention back to Wheein. 

"What do you mean by 'act?' I am cool, you two just don't know what cool looks like."

Hyejin, who was still pouting, shot out a, "Even if we didn't know what it was we'd still know that you aren't it. You're way too greasy."

Byul put her hand to her chest and gasped in mock hurt. She opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Yongsun emerging from the bedroom. 

She had changed out of her pyjamas after their meal, grumbling about not getting the respect she deserves during the entire trek to her closet. Now wearing a casual shirt (without any form of cartoon animal appearing anywhere on them, Byul might add) and some comfy sweat pants, she walked over to the couch and plopped down on Byul's other side.

"That's better. So, what are we talking about?" Yongsun inquired with a slight tilt to her head. Hyejin craned her neck back to where she was all but upside down in order to look at Yongsun. 

"Oh, nothing much. Just trying to explain to unnie how uncool she is." 

"Oh? What brought it on this time? Was it the baby shark performance again? Because we've talked about this. Just because you try to act all suave doesn't mean you are." 

Byul groaned, "Not you, too! I'm telling you, it's an art!" 

Wheein, having finished up with the dishes, made her way back into the living room and crossed her arms over the back of the couch. She layed her head on her arms and changed the subject before it could delve any deeper into the madness. Again. 

"Hey guys, don't you think it's time?" 

Hyejin sat up and turned towards Wheein as best she could, "For the first of December duties? I completely agree." She turned back to the others on the couch, "Don't you think so too, unnies?" 

Byul groaned and threw her head back into the couch. "Ugh, fine. Why don't you two go get the stuff. I'll call manager unnie to let her know."

Yongsun spoke up, "Make sure you get a whole bunch of the pewter ones, those are my favorite!" 

"Don't worry unnie, we know! You say that every year," Wheein assured. She turned to Hyejin, "We need paint, or do we have some left over from last year?" 

Byul spoke up before Hyeji had the chance to respond, "We had to throw out half of them when Yongsun tripped and stepped on them, remember? There was paint everywhere." 

A groan came from Byul's left, "I had forgotten about that until now, thank you very much. And in my defense, if you hadn't been lying in the middle of the floor, maybe I wouldn't have tripped!" Yongsun gestured around, clearly trying to make a point, but was betrayed by the growing red of her cheeks. 

"Oh come on, I was barely taking up any space at all, you could have easily gone around me." 

"Well, yeah, but-" Yongsun floundered for a moment. Byul's grin only grew as time went on. 

"I was taking the most direct path," Yongsun finished hesitantly. 

"Unnie," Hyejin piped up, "You were going to the kitchen. Byul was way over there," Hyejin pointed the spot beside the bedroom door, on the complete opposite side of the room. "How was that the most direct path?" 

"It was late and I was tired, okay?! Sheesh!" Yongsun crossed her arms and pouted. 

"Aw, don't be like that." Byul smiled and leaned over to nudge at Yong's chin until she raised her head slightly to look her in the eye. 

"From my point of view it looked like an Angel fell from heaven." 

"Aish," Yongsun uncrossed her arms and smacked Byul in the chest. "Don't say things like that!" 

Byul only grinned back in response. "Hey, unnie, are you going to call manager unnie or not? I wanna go already!" Wheein whined and stomped her foot in an attempt to get a move on. 

Looking back over her shoulder, Byul replied with an exasperated, "Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses. These ornaments better be damn well worth the struggle." 

"You know they are, we've been doing this for years now. Now c'mon and get to dialing, we don't have all day!" 

Yongsun shook her head, "Yes, we do! That's the point!" 

Hyejin held a finger up to her lips, "Shh, unnie. Let us have this." 

After a brief call to their manager, Byul watched as the two youngest walked out the door, but not before Yongsun spotted the sponge lying three feet from the couch. When she asked, loudly, about why there was a sponge lying on her perfectly good floor, Hyejin threw out a quick, "We were trying to wash away Byul-unnie's greasiness!" Before she slipped out of the door and the potential blast zone. 

With no other target, Yonsun turned her glare on Byul. 

"I didn't do anything, I swear." 

Yongsun wasn't budging. 

"Oh, come on, do you really think I'd do anything to deserve having a sponge thrown at me?"

A cocked eyebrow. 

Knowing she wasn't going to win the fight, Byul dove for Yongsun's stomach and held on for dear life. Yongsun threw her arms out to try and find her balance, but to no avail. They ended up awkwardly laying with Byul's arms trapped under the other girl's torso, and Yongsun's knee dug into Byul's stomach. 

"Yah, what's wrong with you?" "Nothing. Just wanted to hug a pretty girl. Why, is there something wrong?" Byul asked, not even bothering to hide her grin. She was rewarded with a smack on the arm. 

"Ow! I'm not your personal punching bag, you know." 

"Yeah, you are," Yongsun sighed. "Comes with the territory." 

Byul shifted her weight to the left and pulled her right arm out, and then repeated the process for the left arm. She readjusted her position on top of Yongsun and laid her head on the girl's chest. 

"You know, I'm really glad we threw cereal at each other that one time." Yongsun let out a startled chuckle. 

"Yeah. Yeah, me too. Idiot." 

"Yeba." 

That's how the younger members found them almost two hours later. The flash of a picture being taken ruined their nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Pewter Memories

After about six minutes of Yongsun trying (and failing) to get Hyejin to delete the picture, Byul decided she'd had enough of dodging the two. She climbed over the back of the couch and made her way to where Wheein was. 

Byul leaned against the wall and joined her in watching their leader and maknae jump over furniture. 

"So what did you guys end up grabbing?" 

Wheein answered without taking her eyes off of Hyejin, who was currently vaulting over the couch. 

"Enough, I hope. We ended up getting there before the place was properly set up and running, so we walked around for a bit." Byul nodded. 

"Where'd you end up?" 

"We actually stopped by the arcade for a few minutes. Did you know the shooting game is busted?" 

Before Byul could respond, a triumphant yell cut through their conversation. She looked back towards the sound to see Yongsun on top of Hyejin. 

Byul Shook her head and walked over to her from behind. She grabbed the phone from Yongsun's grasp and tossed it back to Wheein before the leader could stop her. Byul turned back to face a pouting Yongsun. 

"Really?" She leaned down to grab Yongsun around the waist and hoisted her up and off of Hyejin. 

"That's enough terrorizing the kids, don't you think?" Yongsun flailed her legs in an attempt to find some traction. 

"Put me down!" Byul laughed while she twirled around to the couch and collapsed with Yongsun on top of her. 

"How's that? Better?" 

"I hate you." 

Byul grinned, "No you don't." 

"I don't know, you're pretty annoying. I mean, you never listen to me, you're always throwing out the worst lines, and you still haven't let go of me. You're a little hard to like." 

"Your smile says otherwise." 

"Shut up, you're weird. I'm not smiling, you are." 

"If you two are done, can we get on with the good stuff?" Hyejin opened her mouth, but was cut off by Wheein. 

"And by good stuff I meant the ornaments, not whatever you were about to say." Hyejin crossed her arms and pouted at that. Yongsun took advantage of her captors distraction and slipped out of her arms. 

"Alright, come on. Let's see what you two brought back with you." Byul watched as the bags were placed upon the table and emptied out. 

"Oh these are adorable! I call this one!" 

Yongsun held up an unpainted pewter ornament. On it was a detailed depiction of a tree with presents neatly placed under it. 

"Well," Hyejin dragged out, "I already called it at the shop, but I guess I can let you have it. If," She grinned, "You forget about the picture." 

Yongsun groaned. "Ugh, fine. Have your picture. It's not as if this one's gonna let me get to it anyway," she gestured at Byul with her thumb. 

Byul grinned and started looking through the pile. She loved these things; The pewter ornaments always felt like they held a bit more holiday magic than the plastic, pre-painted ones. 

Wheein and Hyejin were the ones who had started the tradition, during their first year as trainees. They were wandering the streets one day and stumbled across a small shop that only comes around for December. They found a whole bunch of the ornaments and thought it would make for a fun way to pass the time. 

The next year the shop came around, the girls went back, and they got the rest of the group to join in. Ever since then, the two youngest would visit the shop on the first of December every year. 

After digging around in the in the pile for a bit, Byul found one she really liked. On it was candle sitting in a window with frost covering the edges of it. It reminded her of the nights she and her sister would spend watching the snow fall as kids. 

"I'm taking this one. I think it'll turn out really well." Wheein held up an ornament with a teddy bear sitting in a chair. 

"This one's mine. Remember that teddy bear you used to have, Hyejin? Back around the time we met? That's what this one reminds me of." 

Hyejin smiled softly, "Oh yeah, Mr. Bear! We never did find out what happened to him, did we? I think the last time I saw him was before we got accepted to the company, right?" Wheein nodded. 

"Mr. Bear? You named a stuffed bear Mr. Bear?" Byul snickered. 

"Hey, I was seven. Mr. Bear was a perfectly respectable name! Besides, your dog's name is Daebakie. You have no room to talk." 

Byul pulled back and put her hand to her chest. 

"How could you!" She said in mock offense. 

"Daebakie is a perfect angel and doesn't deserve this kind of slander."

An arm was put in between the two. "Oi, time out." Yongsun turned toward Wheein. 

"Did you guys grab paints, too?" 

"Yeah, they should be right," Wheein twisted around to grab a bag sitting against the couch. "Here. We grabbed some colors that I really like. There's a really nice green in there that I might steal later." Yongsun smiled. 

"Oh, Hyejin, did you ever choose one to paint?" Byul asked. Hyejin nodded and held up an ornament depicting a child peering at a snow globe. 

"Oh that one's cute! I miss my snow globe. Left it with Seulgi when I moved out. I wonder if she still has it?" 

Byul had a wistful smile on her face. She was hit on the arm. 

"Hey, are you going to stare at the wall all day or are you going to paint that?" Yongsun's gaze softened. "I know you miss your sister, but don't forget about the life that's happening right in front of you. A life spent in the past is no life at all."

Byul stared at her for a moment before lunging at her. 

"Aww! See, you do care!" 

"Why do you keep tackling me?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sick right now, but thanks for reading!


	5. Purple

About an hour later, Byul was putting the finishing touches on her ornament. Somehow in their excitement to grab the supplies and get back to the apartment, no one had thought to buy paint brushes. 

So that made things interesting. 

"It might have been easier to just have one of us run back out to the craft store," Yongsun said with her face scrunched up in concentration. 

She was doing her best to add highlights to the tiny ornaments. It wasn't easy, considering she was using the corner of a very meticulously folded napkin as a brush. 

"Psht, this is way more fun. Besides, have you seen the cool textures I'm getting this way? This bear is looking awesome." Wheein held up her mostly-finished work and showed it to the members proudly. 

She was right, Byul doubted that a normal brush would have been able to create something like that. 

"Speak for yourself, miss artist. Not all of us can whip up a masterpiece with a paper towel. This kid's got an eerie resemblance to the Joker, and it's only getting worse the more I try to fix it." 

Wheein looked over and cringed, "Maybe if you'd let the paint dry before trying to cover that up, it might work, instead of you smearing it all over his face like an animal." Hyejin huffed and set it on the table. 

Byul leaned over to catch a glimpse of it and immediately had to stifle her laughter with Yong's shoulder. 

"Hey, watch it!" She moved her ornament out of the way of the Byul-shaped-danger. 

"I don't think Christmas trees are supposed to have streaks of random colors through them." 

Hyejin stared at her for a moment before saying, "I mean, have you ever squinted while looking at one? Pretty much exactly what that looks like." 

"She's right. I used to do that all the time as a kid," Wheein laughed. 

Yongsun rolled her eyes and let out a short huff of annoyance.

"That's all well and good, but I've put way too much work into these tiny lights to have them be covered up by this child and her need to assault me every few minutes without warning." 

"There's no need for that. Even if you painted it all over with black, I think I'd be able to find my way. The only light I need in my life comes from your beautiful smile." 

Byul had the most shit-eating grin on her face.

That is, until Yongsun dragged her napkin across Byul's face, leaving a stripe of blue from her eye to her chin. 

"Whoops. Must've slipped. It was too greasy." 

"Oh shit, here we go again," Wheein made sure to move her work out of the impending war zone. 

Byul stared at her leader. 

And then grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her face close. Before Yongsun could stop her, Byul rubbed her cheek against Yongsun's, smearing paint all over both of their faces. She was pushed back quickly, but not fast enough to prevent the mess. 

"Byul. I swear to all that is holy. If you got that in my hair I will murder you." 

"It's kind of all over the place," Hyejin pointed out helpfully. 

"Definitely in your hair." 

Byul laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. 

"Why don't we think about this before we do anything hasty," Byul tried to reason. 

"I mean, what about the group? Won't MooMoos be upset at my sudden disappearance? They did say 'Never letting go,' I'm pretty sure they meant that." 

Even as she spoke, she knew it wasn't going to work. She crawled away as fast as she could without making it too obvious that she was running away. She didn't make it far before Yongsun attacked. 

The two youngest looked on in mild interest before Hyejin turned to Wheein.

"Do you remember that bet we made in our second year? Do you think that one's still valid or should we update it for these dire circumstances?" 

Wheein looked back to the flailing mass of limbs on the ground and grimaced at the addition of a red tube of paint. That... Wasn't going to be fun to clean up. 

"Considering it's been almost four years since we drew up those conditions, yeah it might be time to revisit it." 

Instead of the few months they'd thought it would take, the two older girls had been dragging their feelings out for years, skirting around the issue, but never actually addressing it. It'd been driving the two best friends absolutely bonkers. 

"Let's see about rehashing the terms later, it looks like their annual paint battle is coming to a close." 

Hyejin nodded, "Yeah, seems like it, if the purple they ended up with is anything to go by." Considering they hadn't even bought a purple tube of paint, that was a bit of an accomplishment. 

"Come on, let's see about getting these dorks cleaned up so we can get back to watching them pine without them realizing that's what they're doing. Because, y'know, entertainment." 

Wheein stood up and shrugged, "It's like watching a Drama. It just never stops." 

Hyejin chuckled, "It's a miracle we've survived the show so far. Let's hope when the final episode airs, the main protagonists finally figure it all out." 

"Hey, unnies! Go get cleaned up so you don't look like a rainbow barfed all over you!" 

"Even after a hundred showers they'll still radiate rainbows. There's no helping that, Hyejin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still awfully sick (and a bit delirious tbh), but thanks for reading!


	6. M&M's and Other Mishaps

Byul laid on the floor waiting patiently for her turn in the shower. Normally whenever they had to shower the two of them played rock paper scissors in order to determine who went first, but apparently Yongsun had decided that she was going first today. 

Before Byul could even sit up from the paint massacre that she had been subjected to, Yongsun was already shutting the bathroom door behind her. In the moment before it closed completely however, Byul was treated to the sight of a paint smeared face sticking her tongue out childishly. 

Byul had only sighed and laid back down. 

Her skin felt weird as the paint dried; it felt similar to how it did when she would fall asleep with makeup on. Not her favorite feeling in the world, to say the least. 

She idly wondered how hard it was going to be to get it all off as she lifted her hands up to her face to try to peel the paint off. It wouldn't budge, so she assumed that the paint hadn't dried enough to lose the pliability it needed to flake off. 

She gave up on trying to remove the paint by hand and sat up. 

"Hey there. Love the hair. You know the Paint Me comeback was a while back, right?" 

Byul looked over to see the girls coming back into the living room with a handful of… something. She couldn't really make out what they were holding from her highly coveted seat on the floor. 

"Yeah, yeah. Tell that to our esteemed leader." Byul turned her attention to Wheein. 

"Whatcha got there?" 

"Wouldn't you like to know," Wheein tossed something colorful into her mouth. 

"Is that my secret stash of M&M's?" 

"Nope," Hyejin popped one in her mouth. 

"Then what are they?" 

"Yongsun unnie's secret stash of M&M's." 

"Yong doesn't have a secret stash of M&M's," Byul said in a low voice. 

"Oh. Then yeah, this is your stash. Sorry unnie." Byul groaned. 

"Yeah, sure you are," she said, dropping her head back to the floor with a small 'thud'. 

"Well if you would keep your candy out of unnie's apartment, maybe you'd get to keep it." Byul just blinked up at the ceiling. Wheein chuckled. 

"You know she's not gonna do that. She practically lives here. Keeping her random stashes back at her place isn't really an option now, is it?" 

Yongsun chose that moment to peek her head out of the bathroom door. 

"Hey Byul, could you grab me a towel? You never finished putting the laundry up, did you?" 

"Er, I don't guess I did, sorry about that. Give me just a sec and I'll get you one." Byul lifted herself up from the ground and made her way to the bedroom, passing the snickering best friends as she went. 

"After that display, I'm surprised she hasn't given up on her apartment altogether," Byul heard Hyejin whisper. She shook her head and walked through the doorway. 

To Byul's left was the half folded basket of clothes she'd been working on the day before. Their manager had called to remind them of the photoshoot scheduled for an hour later, and Byul had abandoned the clothes without another thought. 

Now that she's looking at the crumpled shirts still sitting in the basket though, she'll have to iron a bit more than she'd like. Oh well, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. 

Byul grabbed a towel from the pile in the basket and made her way back to the bathroom. She knocked twice on the door and waited the half second until the door was opened just enough for the towel to be handed through. 

"Thanks, I appreciate it." She caught a glimpse of Yongsun's face as the door was shut. It was paint free, and water glistened on her cheeks and forehead. 

Byul stared at the door for another few seconds before moving away and rejoining the M&M thieves back at the couch. It was another two minutes before Yongsun came out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her. She headed directly to her room to get dressed. 

Byul followed the movement from out of the corner of her eye, not because she was trying to see anything she shouldn't, she would never, but she couldn't help but watch her. 

A few seconds later she was hit upside the head with something small and colorful. 

"Did- did you just hit me with my own M&M's?" Byul picked up the blue candy and held it up to confirm that yes, someone had indeed had the audacity to not only eat her secret stash of candy, but to assault her with it as well. 

"I didn't throw anything, did you?" Wheein turned to Hyeji with clearly feigned confusion on her face.

"Who, me? Of course not. I would never," she played along. 

Byul watched as they lied to her face. If they felt remorse, they didn't show it. 

"Maybe the paint has lead in it. You should go get it off Unnie, I think it's making you see things," Wheein addressed her with badly faked concern. 

"The only things I'm 'seeing' are ungrateful brats." Byul shook her head in absolute defeat and headed for the bathroom. 

Yongsun decided to choose that moment to exit the bedroom, and brushed by Byul's shoulder. She grinned at Byul as she continued on her way into the living room, and even though Byul was sure she was probably gloating about the paint still smeared all across her face, she found that she never really wanted to see that smile vanish. 

Byul watched her walk past, but before she got around to looking back to where she was going, she smacked her face into the bathroom door frame. 

Oh. So that's what a broken nose felt like. 

Whoops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	7. Well That Was Fun

Explaining to their manager why Byul needed to be taken to the Emergency Room was an adventure in and of itself. 

Trying to do the same with the paint that covered her from head to toe was worse. The extreme amounts of embarrassment had definitely not helped to stop the flow of blood from her throbbing nose. 

Once their manager had gotten over the absurdity of the situation, everyone piled into the van and took off for the ER. 

"I still can't believe you were too busy checking Unnie out to walk properly," Hwasa cackled from her seat across the way from Byul's examination table. 

"You are so incredibly lucky it was only a minor fracture. Unnie would have murdered you had it been any worse." 

Byul sighed and prodded at the bandage that covered her nose. She immediately regretted it and winced before forcing her hand back down to her side. 

"I'm just glad this didn't happen during comeback promotions." 

There was a knock at the door, and Wheein, who was closest, reached over to open it a crack. Yongsun shouldered her way into the room, carrying an armful of drinks and snacks. 

"You left to pee, what happened?" Yongsun nudged the door closed behind her and dumped the assortment of items on top of Byul's legs. 

"I ended up being stopped by a kid who asked me if I knew if there was anywhere to get food here. I saw the vending machines on the way in and figured I'd buy him a snack. Apparently I got carried away and brought us all food." 

"Aw, look at you being all leader-ish! Seriously though, thanks. I've been dying of thirst," Byul grabbed a bottle of grape soda out of the pile. 

Wheein stared at Byul for a moment. 

"Yes. You have been." 

Yongsun cocked her head at the strange intensity of her words, but before she could question her younger member, Hyejin spoke up. 

"So what was the kid doing here? He hurt himself playing?" Yongsun shook her head. 

"No, he's waiting on his mom to finish up with her surgery. Apparently she tripped over a rug and fell down. The fall was bad enough that it tore a muscle in her ankle." 

"Oh, that poor kid. Is no one else here to take care of him?" Hyejin asked. 

"Not as far as I could tell, but I'm sure he'll be fine. He seemed like a tough kid." Byul nodded in acceptance. Hyejin stood and grabbed a bag of chips from the pile. 

"So did the doctor say when you could leave?" 

"Yeah, he should be on his way back with the release forms now. I'll have to come check in with someone in a few days to make sure it's healing properly, but I should be good to go," 

Byul took a sip of her soda, careful not to jostle her nose in the process. She noticed Yongsun staring at her out of the corner of her eye. 

"What's up?" 

"Nothing," she replied far too quickly for Byul to have even considered taking her word for it. 

"No really, why are you staring at me?" 

"Unnie, maybe it's because you look like you got into a fist-fight with the Kool-Aid man and got your ass handed to you." Wheein choked on her drink and doubled over in laughter. 

"Nobody asked you, Hyejin." 

"You didn't have to, I know when I'm needed." 

Byul shook her head in defeat. Ow. Maybe don't do that. Yong was still staring at Byul, but now she noticed the sly grin that had appeared on her face. 

"You know, it's flattering and all, but I'd prefer it if you didn't get nose bleeds just from looking at me. Might get a bit dangerous for you, considering just how often I catch you doing it." 

Byul's mouth hung open. She assumed the others were in a similar state of shock, because the room fell absolutely silent. Yongsuns grin slowly morphed into an unsure grimace at the lack of response. 

"Oh. My. GOD, there's two of you!" Wheein threw her hands up in the air in disgust and slumped down into her seat as far as she could without hitting the floor. 

"I can't believe the sayings are true. You date someone long enough, you become that person," Hyejin said, in awe of what had just transpired. 

Yongsun shot out a, "We're not dating!" And started pouting. Byul finally came to her senses and jumped in the conversation. 

"I wasn't staring at you! I just got lost in my own head," Byul protested lamely. 

"Oh come on, I see you staring all me all the time. Just today I've counted six times." 

"No, I was just thinking about your smile, I swear," Byul sputtered. Wheein wheezed from laughing so hard. 

"That's not- That's not helping your case Unnie!" She choked out. Byul smacked her hand to her forehead. 

"Dammit, I wanted you to keep smiling. That's all." Yongsun's eyes widened a bit before she looked to the side, a light blush rising to her cheeks. 

"Jesus Christ, you two are completely hopeless," Hyejin looked between the two of them with wide eyes. 

"This is so," Wheein gasped from her position curled up in the chair, "Fucking funny, oh my GOD!" She delved into another laughing fit. 

Byul was a little afraid she was going to pass out. She threw a bag of chips at her head. It didn't even faze her. 

If the doctor hadn't walked through the door at that moment, Byul might have combusted from embarrassment right there. 

The doctor looked around the room with a bewildered expression on his face. 

"What on earth happened in here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Btw, anyone else freaking out out over the new comeback teasers? Because I think I've died and been resurrected a few too many times to be healthy.


	8. There's a Difference

It wasn't long before Byul was released and allowed to continue her day as she saw fit. Or, at least in the comfort of Yongsun's apartment. The kids would probably dictate what they ended up doing for the rest of the day. 

She got some strange looks on the way out from a family that had arrived while she was being treated, but was otherwise home free. 

Their manager, who still wasn't particularly happy about the whole scenario, drove the group back to the apartment without a word. 

During the drive back, Yongsun had climbed into the back seat with Byul. It was a little surprising considering the seat was nearly always vacant of anyone but the rapper. According to Yongsun, it was a pain to climb in and out of every time they needed to go somewhere. 

Byul didn't question the unexpected move, and decided to make the most of it while it lasted. Byul shifted over a bit and laid her head on her shoulder, a move made difficult by the seatbelt that constricted her, but she managed eventually. 

She watched as Yong browsed through fancafe posts and chuckled a bit under her breath when she found a particularly funny comment. She had some difficulty reading the posts in foreign languages, and some she couldn't understand at all, but she enjoyed them all the same. 

That is, until they came across a post asking why someone had seen Byul walking around looking like a failed art project. 

Byul groaned and buried her face into Yongsun's neck. 

"Already? I thought I might have been sneaky enough this time to avoid being seen looking like an idiot. Apparently not." Yongsun brought her hand up to cradle Byul's neck. 

"You don't look like an idiot. You look like you were having way too much fun." 

"Is there a difference? Because I'm still covered in paint with a fractured nose." 

"Of course there's a difference," Yongsun tapped her fingers on Byul's head in a rhythm that felt familiar to Byul, but she couldn't quite make it out. 

"Just because you think you look like an idiot doesn't mean people don't think you're cute with paint all over you, or aren't worried about your injury. It depends on the approach you take to the situation, and your frame of mind at the time is important too." Byul buried her head further into Yongsun and wrapped her arm around her waist. 

"Wow, leader Yong has been coming out a lot lately, huh?" Byul chuckled lowly, feeling the vibrations in her own chest melt into the body next to her with ease. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to get preachy or anything. It's just," Yongsun sighed and put her phone down. 

"I don't know what I'm doing. It's not like they ever gave me any formal leadership training when we started this or anything. I'm running around blind. I'm trying to lead you guys as best I can, but sometimes I get so lost I can't even find the way out for myself, let alone three other people who are relying on me," Yongsun finished with a huff of frustration, her arm falling back to her lap from the gestures that accompanied her points. 

Byul gathered her thoughts for a moment before responding. 

"Yeah, I guess I could see how trying to lead a hamster, a puppy, and a lion around while blindfolded might be a little tough." 

Byul smiled when she received a scoff in response. 

"But you know what? We don't need a leader. Forget what the company says, forget the assigned roles. The only thing we really need is you." Byul pulled away, just far enough to look Yongsun in the eyes. 

"Solar doesn't matter right now. Yongsun does." She laid her head back down. 

"If Yongsun wants to just exist for a little while, no one's gonna fault her for that. We all need breaks sometimes," Byul said, barely loud enough for Yongsun to have heard her over the low thrum of the engine. It was another quiet moment before Byul felt the quick press of Yongsun's lips against the crown of her head. 

"What was that for?" 

"For being an idiot," Yongsun replied with a small smile. 

"You literally just got done telling me I wasn't an idiot." Byul felt the shoulder she was laying on shift in what felt like a shrug. 

"That was Solar. This is Yongsun talking." 

"I regret everything. Bring the other one back," Byul jokingly groaned, tightening her grip around her waist. 

"Nope, you've already said it, no take-backsies!" 

"Ugh. Fine, but you're making me cookies later." 

"Oi, at what point did you start thinking it was okay to make demands of your elders?" 

"When this supposed 'elder' decided it was going to be a good idea to make my favorite cookies the other week and not give me any. How could you?" 

"Aish, fine. I'll make you cookies. But only because you're injured, you got that?" 

Byul pulled back and saluted her with a quick "Yes'm!" and shot Yongsun a satisfied grin, her eyes crinkling at the force of it. The girl rolled her eyes and flicked Byul on the forehead for her efforts. Byul stuck out her tongue in retaliation. 

"Hey Unnies, we're back. Would you two stop flirting long enough to come unlock the door? We left our keys inside." 

The pair had apparently gotten so wrapped up in needling each other that they hadn't realized the car had arrived at its destination. 

"Yeah yeah, we'll be there in a moment. And we're not flirting!" Yongsun replied vehemently. Whatever you say, Unnie," Wheein shouted over her shoulder as she made her way to the apartment's entrance. Yongsun watched in resignation before sighing and turning back to Byul. 

"We'd better get a move on before the kids try and murder us in our sleep. But seriously, thanks for what you said earlier. It means a lot." 

Byul shook her head as she unbuckled from the seat. 

"If you weren't here, I wouldn't be here. You've made my life better by just being in it. I don't want to ever lose that." 

"Okay, now you're just being greasy again." 

Byul laughed once, "No seriously! I really appreciate you, we all do, so there's no need to thank me." Byul climbed out from the back seat and turned back towards Yongsun. 

"Why don't we get inside? I want my cookies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	9. A Momentary Pause

Byul led a quiet Yongsun back to the apartment by the hand. After saying their goodbyes to their manager, Yongsun tossed Wheein the key and filed in through the doorway. The first thing Byul did when she made it past the entrance way was make a b-line to the bathroom. 

"You going to get the paint off of your face?" Byul looked over to where Yongsun was still taking off her coat, the last to enter the apartment. 

"Yeah, I think it's about time. I can't really shower right now with my face being the way it is, but I at least want to get it off of the most visible parts of me." Yongsun nodded. 

"Give me a second and I'll help you." 

"I'm perfectly capable of getting layers of gunk off of my face, Yong." 

"Sure you are. I just want to watch you writhe in pain while you try to avoid putting pressure on your nose," Yongsun said with a grim smile. 

"Oh, so I'm just here for your personal entertainment? I see how it is." Byul nodded and accepted her fate. 

"Eyes on the road, Unnie! Wouldn't want to end up like last time," Wheein had cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted from her newly required position on the couch. Byul gave her a sharp look from the corner of her eye. 

"Shut it or I'm not sharing my cookies." 

"Cookies?" Hyejin said after she popped her head out from the kitchen, "Who said anything about cookies?" 

"I did," Yongsun raised her hand and shook it back and forth once. 

"Byul asked for some earlier, so I'm gonna see what I can do about it in just a bit." 

"Cool! Can we decorate those too? Do you have the stuff for frosting?" Wheein sat up in her seat. 

"Ooh, we can make it into a competition! Remember how we did when we filmed for Recipe? We can have a rematch! But with cookies this time." 

And there went Byul's plan to take things easy for the rest of the day. 

"You guys figure that out. I'm gonna go get this paint off," Byul pointed a thumb over her shoulder. 

Yongsun nodded, "You two go see if I have the stuff stored away in the cabinets. If not, we'll figure something out. For now, I'm gonna go help this hopeless fool." 

"Hey! I may be covered in paint with a broken nose but that doesn't mean I'm hopeless!" 

Yongsun didn't even spare her a second glance as she walked past to get to the bathroom. Byul stared after her for a moment before giving up and following her into the small room. 

Yongsun was waiting with an unimpressed look on her face and her arms crossed. 

"You coming? Come on, let's get this done." She rifled through the small closet to her right and emerged with a washcloth. 

"This is gonna hurt, isn't it?" Byul asked with a grimace. "

Probably. I'll try to keep it as pain free as I can though." She wet the small cloth and took Byul's chin in her hand. 

"Turn on the light, would you? It's getting hard to see in this light." Byul fumbled out behind her for the switch on the wall before remembering it was on the other side. She flushed slightly and quickly rectified her mistake. The switch was finally flipped and the room was illuminated with a soft white light. 

"Okay, come here so I can get to work." 

"You sure you don't just want an excuse to stare at my face?" 

"And be scarred for life? No thanks." 

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Yong. Next you're gonna tell me you don't like my charms," Byul smirked as she held her face out. 

"I'm disgusted," Yong grabbed Byul's face again and started working on the spattering of blue across her right cheek, "that you would even bring that up." 

"What, am I too much for you to handle?" She chuckled. Yongsun tilted Byul's head to the side. 

"I'm not dignifying that with a response." Byul stuck her tongue out at her. 

"Hold still, I'm just about done here. Then you'll be free to terrorize us with your greasiness all you want." Byul faux pouted at that, but did as she was asked. 

The silence reigned on as Yongsun focused on removing the last traces of paint from her face. Byul had nowhere to look but straight ahead, which just so happened to be directly towards Yongsun's face. 

Byul couldn't tell whether her face was red because of the close proximity, or from the scrubbing, but she was grateful for it. If she didn't know, Yongsun probably couldn't tell either. 

Byul's eyes flitted over Yongsun's face, drinking in features she's seen thousands of times. Somehow she managed to find something new every time she looked, whether it was an expression she hadn't had the time to fully appreciate, or the way her lashes framed her eyes when she concentrated. 

Byul had long since been attuned to her breathing, an unforeseen, but not unpleasant side effect of sharing a bed for so many nights. Her breaths were steady and deep, the lungs of a vocalist. So when she heard the hitch in the usually even exhalation, Byul immediately glanced back up to her eyes. 

Yongsun had stopped her movements and was staring at a point on Byul's face, seemingly lost in thought. She took in the girl's half closed eyes and parted lips, but before she could say anything about it, Yongsun seemed to shake herself from her stupor. 

She finished scrubbing Byul's face with what was probably a bit more force than was strictly necessary and threw the dirty washcloth in the sink to be dealt with later. 

"Come on, the girls are waiting on us." Byul stared at her for a moment before she decided that prying wasn't going to get her anywhere. 

She nodded after Yongsun and followed her back to the kitchen where the younger two had somehow managed to empty out the entirety of the cabinets onto the floor. 

Byul sighed and once again resigned herself to her fate of forever being at the mercy of her group mates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	10. Dammit, Not Again

Byul had hopped up on the counter to watch the chaos that was the younger two attempting to pull together the ingredients needed for both sugar cookies and frosting. 

Yongsun stood by in quiet disbelief at the mess her kitchen had become. There were boxes filled with various foods scattered about the counters and floors, and apparently Hyejin was still searching for more. 

Wheein had sat down in the center of the room and was in the middle of sorting the items into what appeared to be 'useful' and 'absolute trash why would you buy this'. At least, that's what Byul got from the way she was tossing the boxes out to her side without remorse. 

Hyejin tossed another box out from the cabinet to Wheein, who caught it with both hands. She turned the box over and read the contents before smiling and placing it neatly into the 'useful' pile. Byul watched in mild horror when Hyejin moved her attention to an untouched cabinet, obviously going to repeat the process. That is, until Yongsun finally came out of her stupor. 

"What are you two doing, exactly?" 

"Just trying to find the stuff we need for the cookies," Wheein answered from the floor, holding two boxes up from the pile on her left. 

"I can see that. Now can you tell me why you thought it was a good idea to completely destroy my kitchen?" 

"We can't seem to find your sugar. Can't have sugar cookies without it, I mean it's kind of in the name," Hyejin answered while still glancing through shelves. 

"And is there a reason you have so much food here? We rarely eat in with all of the time away from home. Wouldn't most of this end up going to waste?" She continued, twisting her torso so she could glance behind her. 

Yongsun's cheeks were dusted with a light pink at the line of questioning. "If you'd stop to check for a moment before throwing my food around, you might see that just about everything here was bought specifically to be able to survive for a while in between schedules." Hyejin looked around for a moment and nodded. 

"Okay, I can understand that. What I don't get is why you have so much. This is enough food to feed the four of us for a few weeks at least," Hyejin leaned back against the counter and looked to Yongsun for an answer. 

"Maybe I wanted to be prepared for when you three monsters decided you were going to take up residence here." 

"I think Unnie's already got that plenty covered for the rest of us," Wheein piped up from the floor, splaying her legs out and pushing back the stacks of variously colored boxes and bags. 

Yongsun had apparently forgotten Byul's presence with all the insanity that had occured. It seemed that she had finally realized someone was sitting on the area where she prepared food. Byul slid off without a word and crossed the kitchen in just a few steps. 

"No really, what's up with the apocalypse-scenario hoard of stuff?" Byul leaned in towards Yongsun's face with a grin. Yongsun pushed her back with a shove to her torso. 

"Yah, go away! I just wanted to be able to feed you brats!" Byul stumbled over a box of crackers, but quickly regained her balance by doing a strange twisting hop over Wheein's leg. 

"Oi, careful there," Hyejin grabbed Byul's arm to steady her, "You just got out of the ER, I refuse to go back twice in one day, let alone within two hours." 

"Hey, don't talk to me about it, she's the one who pushed me for no reason!" Byul pointed at Yongsun with a pout. Wheein stood up and balanced a box on Byul's head. She then walked over to Yongsun and repeated the process. 

"There. You're both block heads. Can we make the cookies now?" 

Yongsun grabbed the box from off of her head and stuck her bottom lip out. 

"This is a rectangle." 

"Rectangles can be blocks," Byul piped up, still doing her best not to let the box atop her head slip off. She was rewarded by being hit in the leg with the object in question. 

"Oh come on! What did I do this time?" Byul looked forlornly at the box on the ground that had fallen during the assault via cardboard container. Yongsun laughed at her misfortune, the sound coming out high pitched and in short, quick bursts. It forced a smile onto Byul's face, even as she tried her damndest to stay sulky and pretend she was emotionally wounded. 

"Guys, come on! It's already been almost an hour since we got back, we're gonna have to stop for dinner at this rate!" 

Hyejin chuckled and raised the hand holding a bag of sugar into the air. 

"Let's go then! Grab the stuff." 

Byul stared in mild confusion at the sugar that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. She approached Hyejin about it once Yongsun and Wheein had gone to get bowls and baking sheets from the other side of the kitchen. 

"Where'd you get that? I thought that's what you two were looking for this whole time." 

"Oh no, I've had this for a good while now. Wheein just wanted to build castles out of the boxes while you two were taking your sweet time in the other room." Byul gave her a sideways glance while watching Yongsun struggle to free the pan from it's confines. 

"The paint was hard to remove. And Yong was trying to be careful not to hit my nose," Byul explained. 

"Uh huh. Sure, Unnie. Either way, you have got to stop staring at her ass. It's getting way too noticeable." 

Dammit, not this again. Byul whipped her head around so fast her nose had begun to throb again. 

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not checking her out?" 

"If you have to try and convince me that you're not, then there's a problem already," Hyejin smirked. 

"But if you're really so adamant about it, I'll back off." Byul sighed and turned back to see that Yongsun had finally gotten the pan free, probably with Wheein's help. She was about to go see what she could do to start helping when Hyejin tapped her on the arm with the back of her hand. 

"Just because I'll stop bothering you about it doesn't mean you're off the hook," she said with a seriousness that hadn't been present before. 

"What?" Hyejin rolled her eyes. 

"Yongsun-unnie. You're not getting out of this that easily." Byul stared at her in mild confusion as the younger girl left her and made her way over to the other two.

"Getting out of what?" Byul huffed. 

"Nothing! Come on, we've got cookies to make!" 

Jesus her friends were strange. 

Byul gave up on trying to figure them out and joined the others just as the first measuring cup was dumped into the mixing bowl. She figured baking couldn't go much worse than anything else that had happened today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Don't forget to stream HIP!


	11. Universe

It was interesting, Byul thought. They'd been together for so long and still hadn't gotten the least bit tired of each other. They still laughed at each other's lame jokes, still goofed off during dance practice, still spent most of their time around each other. 

When she started down the path of an idol, Byul was looking for a way to make herself known, to prove herself to the world. She had expected the long nights. She'd known she was going to struggle with the pressure and obligations at times. She wasn't expecting to find a family, even if they were complete nut jobs.

She loved them. 

As she looked out over the sleeping forms of her group mates, Byul wondered if she sometimes failed to properly express that. 

She let out a low, humorless chuckle and stood up from the dark couch, mindful of the foot that was dangling off of the couch to her left. Hyejin and Wheein were occupying much of the seating area, with the youngest sprawled over her best friend's lap. 

Byul checked her phone by habit, turning the screen on for a moment before shutting it off again without actually registering anything on the display. She tried again, this time taking in the large numbers glaring up at her in the dark of the apartment. 

It read 12:42 a.m. 

She smirked at the image of her corgis staring back at her from her lock screen, remembering how happy they had been to see her, and how overjoyed they'd become once she handed them each a new toy to play with. She wished she could see them more often, she really did miss them. 

The screen faded to black once more and Byul shook her head, placing her phone back at her side. She yawned and rubbed her eye as she began her trek to the closet where Yongsun kept her spare bedding and grabbed a blanket for the two girls who had passed out on the couch. She wondered if it was from the long day they'd all endured, or the excess of sugar cookies they'd inhaled. 

Either way, Byul covered them as best she could with the awkward positioning and made her way to Yongsun's bedroom. 

The owner had retired a while ago, citing old age and seniority as an excuse for tapping out early. Byul couldn't blame her, the only reason she had stayed was to ensure that the younger ones hadn't somehow burned down the kitchen without their supervision. 

She stepped over the sponge that had somehow never been picked up from earlier and made her way through the doorway, slowly opening the door and pushing through. 

The room had been dark, as expected, and the only light Byul had to navigate with came from the window on the far side of the room. 

She'd made her way to the bed, the path familiar to her. It took only four steps to get from the doorway to the foot of the mattress, small ones, to ensure that she didn't stub her toes on the frame. 

Byul smiled when she saw that Yongsun had once again wrapped herself in a cocoon of blankets, wondering how she managed to do that almost every time she attempted to join her. 

It had only taken a few nights into their arrangement to figure out that the only plausible solution to the problem was to wake the poor girl; there was no getting her untangled from the mess of wrappings. 

Byul climbed in next to her and laid her head upon her pillow, watching the older girl's eyebrow twitch every once in a while. It did that often, as though Yongsun was switching into leader mode in her dreams, or trying to rebuke one of Byul's greasy comments. 

Either way, the display was adorable, and Byul's lips turned upward at the sight of it. 

Byul rolled over and wrapped her arms around the bundle sharing a bed with her, tucking her head into the spot where she imagined Yongsun's collar bone would be, had there not been a fluffy barrier between the two. 

She blew air at the sleeping girls face, trying to wake her in the most annoying way she could think of. 

Yongsun's face scrunched up and Byul barely dodged the arm swung at her head. 

"Hey, watch it! Just trying to get my share of the warmth." 

"Well maybe if you tried waking me like a normal person I might be more inclined to share," Yongsun huffed and turned away from her. 

Byul laid back down next to her, still blanket less. She could see the sky through the window across the way. 

"You know, we really are the sun and moon." 

"Not more greasiness Byul-ah, I'm way too tired to deal with you right now," Yongsun groaned. 

"No really, I'm being serious." And she was. 

"Think about it. The moon doesn't produce its own light. It might look like it glows, but all it really does is reflect the light of the sun." 

Yongsun stayed quiet for a moment before untangling herself from the blanket and draping it over the both of them, facing Byul. 

"You're not the moon." Byul looked at her incredulously. 

"Really? Because it's even in my name. _Moon_ Byulyi. How am I not the moon?" Yongsun huffed and pushed her finger into the girl's forehead. 

"You're not _just_ the moon, how about that? You're forgetting the rest of your name. _Byulyi_, if I'm the sun, you're the whole of the universe. I reside in you." Byul blushed and slammed her pillow over her head, jostling her nose a bit. Ow. 

"Ugh, I sound like you. That's it, get out. I need to remove myself from your bad influence." Byul laughed and wrapped her arms around Yongsun, burying her head in her neck. 

"Whatever, Yong. You're my universe too." 

She wished she had the words to better explain just how important Yongsun was to her, but she supposed it would do for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Also, I'll probably be going back sometime soon and editing the chapters to fix the tenses. I started out trying past tense, but I think I would find it easier to write in present.


	12. Gotta Wake Up Sometime

Byul woke to the faint sound of giggling with the occasional screech breaking the laughter. She groaned and curled herself deeper into the mass of blankets and warmth, completely unwilling to subject herself to whatever unholy mess was happening out in the living room. She felt a soft tapping against the crown of her head. 

"Byul-ah, you awake?" Came a soft voice from somewhere above her head. She grunted out a negative and kept her eyes shut tight, willing herself back to sleep before the remnants of her dream faded. 

She couldn't quite remember what was happening in it, but she desperately wanted to know how the dream ended. Something about a rogue princess? Maybe if she fell unconscious again she could watch it play out. 

Just as reality had begun to fade back into the dreamscape, she felt the tapping on her head again. Byul grumbled and dug her head further into the warmth, attempting to find solace from the incessant demon trying to rob her of knowing the ending to the story her mind had crafted. 

"Go 'way," she whined like a kid trying to convince their mom to let them sleep in for just a bit longer. 

"Nope, come on. Time to stop using me as a burrow. It's kinda cute, but the girls are doing God knows what to my kitchen again, and I really don't feel like going shopping for new kitchen ware later." Byul held her breath for the count of six before growling and accepting the fact that she would probably never know the fate of the beautiful princess. The dream was fading by the moment, and no matter how hard she tried to grasp at it, she just couldn't keep it from slipping through her fingers. 

Damn it. 

"Fine," Byul lifted her head from it's safe Haven and squinted at the contrast in light. She fought to keep her eyes from closing completely while her pupils tried their best to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. 

"Ah, there's the beast. I wonder how much it would cost to hire an angry mob to slay the foul demon," Yongsun smiled at Byul with a teasing grin, her eyes all but disappearing from the force of it. 

"Oh I'm a beast now, am I? What wrongdoing have I committed to have earned such a malicious title?" Byul put on the best haughty and imperial tone she could muster while still barely awake. 

"You've captured an innocent village girl and held her captive in your lair whilst her friends are desperately searching for her," Yongsun replied, holding her hand to her chest as if offended by Byul's ignorance. Her claim was punctuated by another scream from outside of the bedroom door. 

"Ah, that must be them now. Have you sent your evil army to stop them?" 

Byul chuckled. 

"Sure, if my 'evil army' consists of an absurd amount of mismatched Tupperware. Seriously, you have like two whole cabinets filled with the things. What could you possibly do with that many awkwardly shaped containers?" 

Yongsun huffed and rolled onto her back. 

"Don't question your elders. Now come on, I need to get out there before they decide I don't need my toaster either." Byul pulled the blanket tight around her and relished in the warmth she knew wouldn't would be robbed from her in mere moments. It was pointless to argue against Yongsun when she had her mind set on something. 

"What if I don't wanna?" She fought anyway. 

"Then I'll make you." 

"No you won't," Byul challenged her. That was perhaps not her first mistake, but quite possibly her most idiotic of the morning. 

Byul, having had her head covered with the blanket in an attempt to hide from the world, didn't see the smirk that appeared on Yongsun's face, nor did she hear the girl move from her position on the bed. 

She did notice the pair of hands around her ankles though. Byul shrieked as she was quite literally dragged out of bed and through the doorway into the living room. Still tangled in the blankets, she found herself unable to get free from Yongsun's grip and resigned herself to her fate. 

"You suck. Worst day ever." Yongsun laughed at the way Byul was laying face down on the floor, unmoving as she lamented. 

"I told you I'd get you moving. I didn't say how I was going to do it, now did I?" 

"You two finally up? Good. Get over here, we were just making igloos out of marshmallows and pretzels." Yongsun stared at Hyejin for a moment in unreadable silence. 

"I don't have marshmallows. I don't even like them all that much. Where-?" She whispered under her breath. Byul pulled herself from her fluffy prison on the floor and jumped on a completely unprepared Yongsuns back, almost sending both of them careening into the coffee table. 

"Yah! Byul-ah, what is wrong with you!" She screamed after gaining her balance and grabbing Byul's legs in a desperate attempt to support them both. Byul leaned in and placed her mouth next to Yongsun's ear. 

"That was payback for the bed. I'd much rather spend the day there with you, but I suppose I'll have to make do with this for now." Byul could see the tips of Yongsun's ears turn a deep red as she pulled back. 

"So, someone said something about penguins?" Yongsun was determined to keep her eyes facing forward and to ignore the problem that was clinging to her like a child. 

"Igloos, unnie. Although that's not a bad idea. Hyejin, toss me some more- dammit, stop eating the building materials!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry for the absence, life got hectic for a bit there.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you find some enjoyment in this. Thanks for checking it out. By the way, I don't know anything about South Korean culture, so if I messed anything up feel free to correct me.


End file.
